‘Other member countries are also welcome to increase their capital shares,’
the IDB President, Ahmed Mohammed Ali, said in the statement.
He, however, said the bank would set out a system to organise such increases by
member states.
The bank’s board of directors in a meeting has also given approval to finance
projects worth $575 million, including a $91 million dam in Iran and a $137
million hydroelectric station in Pakistan.
The bank has also agreed to finance a major railway project linking
Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan.
Turkey would get $220 million to purchase electric locomotives, Turkmenistan $31
million to buy oil tankers, Lebanon $52.7 million to establish a water project
and Suriname $5.5 million to modernise its sea port, an official statement said.
The IDB chief said the Islamic dinar, which the bank uses as a currency unit for
its calculations, is equivalent to one US dollar. However, he said the currency
is not used for bank’s lending operations.
Ali said the IDB would give priority to combating poverty.
‘The bank will set out a variety of programmes for this purpose,’ he added. |
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